Immaculate
by Triforce Garner
Summary: She wanted him to be impeccable. The epitome of perfect. More than anything, though, she wanted him to be free. He thought she was asking too much, but then he realized they had different ideas of just what that was.


Author's Note:

It's a short oneshot for Final Fantasy VII! Yay! As if we needed any more of those haha just kidding. Anyway, felt like writing it one day and boom here it is. Also, please read the bottom Author's Note if you liked this or are just curious. Thanks!

**Warnings**: a bit of romance and just a tiny bit of swearing. Otherwise, it's safe :)

* * *

'Immaculate'

* * *

She'd been so mad at him, her dark eyes smoldering and her jaw set, before she went to work roughly 8 hours ago. He hadn't honestly seen it before and had to admit it had been rather scary to see. Sure, she'd been occasionally pissed at their friends and gone off like a rocket...but never had she been so entirely enraged.

Hmm, he really had to hand it to himself: he had gotten in deep.

He let out a soft sigh and watched the people walking by in silence. It was an extremely rainy day today. He chuckled to himself when he realized it had been sunny right before their argument.

He jumped at the sound of his phone ringing and reached into his pocket as he rolled his eyes. He glanced down at the caller ID and immediately shoved the thing making that offending sound back into his pants pocket. It was Reeve; probably calling about some new 'job' he and Barret had in mind for their brooding friend who lately had been down on his luck. Earlier he'd had to cut off a call from Yuffie about the calls Reeve was making. And then there was Reno.

He sighed again, this time more heavily. And then there was Reno.

He would be paying dearly for wrecking his Fenrir.

"Why?" he asked the sky, looking up pleadingly as his phone rang again.

Why did he have to wake up to a day like today?

It had initially started off well. The sun wasn't in his face like it normally was and he hadn't woken up out of his dreams in a cold sweat even once. His body didn't ache like it usually did from work the previous day, and he wasn't too terribly cold or hot. The temperature in fact had been just right.

He had stretched and groaned, letting out an uncharacteristically loud yawn before settling back into the mattress. Blonde strands fell back into place over his eyelashes and his arms lay stuck out in awkward positions above his head. He had truly known no better peace.

"CLOUD!"

But of course fate would never be fair to Cloud Strife.

Slowly his blue-green eyes fluttered open. He groaned, lifting a hand to rub the side of his face as another much smaller yawn erupted from his lips.

"Cloud you get your butt in here this INSTANT!"

'_What the hell have I done now?_' he thought groggily to himself. If he had to be honest, he felt great today. He was in a pretty good mood, a rare treat in fact. This, however, would dash his hopes for the day. His momentum began to falter. As he sat up from the bed and stared at the bedroom door with unfocused eyes, he heard the sound of clanging dishes.

He winced. Forget faltering, his momentum was about to crash and burn completely.

He let out a deep sigh and bent down to pick up a shirt he'd tossed on the ground before collapsing into bed. "Better get this over with." he mumbled cheerlessly.

He got up, stretching for several seconds, and made his way to the door. He braced himself and opened it to find his tough-as-nails girlfriend immediately in his face.

"What's your problem!?" she ground out. He could tell she was hurting more than anything and decided to hide behind his usual 'cloud' of stoicism. She usually took it as cold. He took it as necessary self-preservation.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about." he started. Although it probably wouldn't help his cause, it was the truth. He really had no idea what she was starting in on him about.

"Don't act like that, Cloud! You're just going to make me madder." she warned, pointing an index finger at his face.

She had to hand it to him. Whenever she had a confrontation with him, and trust that there were plenty, he always kept a cool head. She would vent her frustrations and prod him to death over the stupidest things and he would stand there. His expression would be blank and his tone even. It was actually a quality she rather enjoyed...but hell would freeze over before she'd admit it.

But today was different from all those silly little frustrations she'd usually go on about. Today it was serious. Today it was important. So instead of relenting and crying into his chest like she would have eventually done in other situations, she stuck to her guns. He wouldn't play nice and cause her to dismiss this easily.

"I want you to figure it out for yourself Cloud! I'm not speaking to you until you figure it out all by yourself!" she yelled, placing her hands on her hips as she glared.

Cloud bristled at this, and for a split second she felt remorse. A while back he'd cut his left eyebrow rather badly on duty at work. Whenever he felt threatened, then, that same eyebrow would twitch slightly. After her little outburst it had begun to do just that.

She wanted to sigh to herself. No taking it back now.

"Tifa, how do you expect me to figure out somethin' so vague?" he asked. Tifa stopped herself from laughing. He was so odd in his mannerisms, but she guessed that one of the things she loved about him. He was just so quirky...and that made him cute! His voice was low and calm, but she could hear a distinct crack in his tone. He obviously was trying to hold it all in against her.

Damn him.

"Alright, we can play that game." Tifa teased aggressively, turning around to march back to the pan on the stove cooking her breakfast. She didn't react, she knew Cloud was following her.

"What game? You're being..."

She looked up then, a flicker of hope in her eyes. She frowned deeply when she saw that he had instantly turned away, whatever words he was about to say dying on his tongue. He folded his arms over his chest, crawling back into his safe hiding hole. She grumbled at this, stabbing her sausage patties rather violently.

She was not going to lose here!

"Go out, get some air and think about it." Tifa offered as she slid the sausage onto her plate and dumped the pan into her sink. She heard him make a muffled sound of disapproval and rolled her eyes.

"Tifa..." he began. He stared at her wide eyed as she instantly put her hand up to his face, cutting him off.

"No. Don't pretend Cloud, you're a smart man. You'll figure it out." she growled.

And with that he watched her get her stuff together in silence. She left the pan to soak in soapy water, the plate of sausage laid out for him. After she had pulled on her jacket and shoes, she walked out the door. Not even a goodbye.

Oh yah, he was in it real deep.

So now here he was. He had wandered for hours trying to jog his memory. To him, it seemed like he'd acted picture perfect for at least the past few weeks. No trouble at all. Agreeable and low-maintenance. Not a thing wrong with him.

He blinked. But what if that was the problem?

Girls were weird like that right? Tifa had gotten angry at him over idiotic things in the past, so what made this any different? Was she pissy because he was easy to please? Was she griping because he didn't share his feelings with her?

Suddenly realization hit him and he smacked his forehead painfully. Ouch. But he deserved it.

Ever since they were kids she'd begged him to let her in. How could he not have seen it? He reached down into his pocket, silencing his stupid cell as it rang again and began his trek home.

It took him long enough.

* * *

The apartment was dark when Tifa got home. Only one lonely lamp on the counter in the open-concept kitchen was on. Grumbling she closed the door and shrugged off her jacket. She walked over to the kitchen and stared at the sink for a few seconds, gears turning in her head.

He didn't do the dishes.

Frowning, she reached into the soapy water and pulled up the soaked pan she'd used that very morning. Confused, she looked around the room. The dining table was covered in her school books that Cloud had promised to clear off yesterday.

Speaking of Cloud...

She walked up to the living room and placed her hands on her hips. The tv was on but it was totally silent. Random commercials for some sweet and salty ice cream she'd never heard of blurred across the screen. On the floor in front of her were Cloud's huge boots. Said blonde was laying sprawled out over the couch, his head flung back over the armrest and his arm over the back.

He never had a problem finishing the cleanup around the apartment. In fact, he'd been a bit of a clean freak. The kitchen was always spotless with dinner usually waiting in the cooling oven. All her books and his work gear would be on the shelves somewhere out of the way.

But it didn't seem like he'd done a thing today. She could admit that the fight might have played some part in this, but he had always cleaned up regardless of a fight in the past.

Sighing, she reached down and brushed her fingers across his bicep. He stirred faintly, mumbling incoherently under his breath.

"Cloud, wake up please." Tifa coaxed as she brushed aside strands of his blonde hair.

"Hmhh." he groaned, sniffing and settling deeper into the couch.

"Cloud c'mon. We need to talk." she said, her voice a bit louder to get his attention. She watched with mild amusement as his strange colored eyes opened. His eyelids stopped halfway, his expression that of someone clearly annoyed.

"What?" he blurted. She giggled.

"Did you do anything I asked you to do today?" she asked, resuming brushing his hair with her fingers as she did previously.

Her eyes widened when Cloud shook his head. "Wha-"

"Wait." he stopped her, his eyebrows furrowed. He lifted a hand to his forehead, closing his eyes as his face contorted. "What time is it?"

Tifa looked down at her wrist watch. "It's...about midnight. Almost one in the morning." she answered, turning her attention back to Cloud.

He sat up shakily, moving Tifa as he rested his feet on the floor. She sat down next to him and rubbed his shoulder.

"I did do somethin'. I forgot." he mumbled tiredly, rubbing his eyes. Tifa nodded slightly, waiting for him to continue. "I figured out why you blew up at me."

Tifa cracked a small smile, now completely amused. He really was the quirkiest guy she'd ever met. "Oh?"

She watched as he leaned back against the couch, the remote to the television now somehow in his hand. Where the hell had he gotten it from?

"And why isn't anything else done?" she asked, still rubbing his shoulder. She frowned as Cloud spaced out, his eyes now glued to the tv where they were doing another rerun of that stupid ice cream commercial.

"Cloud! Earth to Cloud! Why aren't you even answering me?" she began to complain, her voice rising.

"Didn't feel like it."

She paused, staring at him with widened eyes at his remark. "What?"

Now he averted his eyes from the tv, looking at her from the corner. "You asked me why I didn't do anything. I'm tellin' you it's because I didn't feel like it."

She continued to stare at him, shocked by his response. He'd never reacted like that before.

"You're tired of me keepin' to myself all the time." he grumbled, looking back at the tv.

Tifa sighed. She reached over, slipping the remote out of his hand and turning off the screen. He didn't move which made her happy. Instead, she placed the remote on the coffee table and took his hands in hers.

"I'm sorry." she said softly, rubbing his hands with hers. He stared at her blankly.

"For what?"

"For asking you to be someone you're not." she blurted finally. She squeezed his hands. "You're the best boyfriend a girl could ask for. You don't complain, even though you want to. You want me to be happy without spoiling me. I'm glad to have you, but sometimes I worry about you too. I want you to share things with me..."

"I just did..." he began, but stopped as she placed a finger on his lips.

"I shouldn't have come at you like that. I do wish you'd open up to me more...but I have to be grateful that you still show you care in other ways." she finished sincerely, her eyes shining with fresh tears.

Ah, now they'd reached the 'forgiveness' stage of her outburst. He pulled her against his chest in silence, staring at the wall as she cried quietly into his shoulder.

"I'll keep doin' what I've been doin'...but maybe this time I'll try to tell you more too."

Tifa lifted her head, smiling overjoyed at his promise. It touched her deeply that he would go to those lengths for her.

"Cloud...thank you." she said. She leaned up, kissing him full and showing her thanks to him the only way she could without words at that moment. When she pulled back, she giggled at at his face, his cheeks dusted red from embarrassment. At first she thought it was his declaration that had sparked this reaction. But what he said next brought a blush to her own cheeks as well.

"Now you've gotta make it up to me." he said lowly, trying to keep a straight face as his cheeks darkened more and more.

Tifa laughed, draping her hands around his neck. She winked, earning a growl from him.

"You've got it babe!"

* * *

Author's Note:

That was in the works longer than I wanted it to be. Glad I pulled it together in the end though!

There will be a sequel to this oneshot (check my list on my profile of course if you're interested!) that will be longer and a little slower (hopefully) in terms of the pickup. It will be titled 'Unconditionally'. This one ended up shorter and went by faster...but I actually like it better like this for some reason. Dunno why. I'm a fan of the moment not getting overshadowed by filler so sometimes my stuff tends to appear 'rushed'. I assure you, it's not! DX

I'm just weird about the way I wanted it to look...

Well, hope you liked it anyway! Leave a review IF you have the time! :)


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